7 Deadly Mistakes to Avoid in Your Startup Pitch Presentation

Kathleen Burns Aug 7, 2015

The way to get ahead of your competition when pitching a startup is to have public speaking experience, or barring that, do research on how to design an amazing presentation that will tap into their emotions and make them passionate about your ideas! If you are coming up with your first startup proposal, a good show to watch on television would be Shark Tank. This show is all about the initial face-to-face pitch that entrepreneurs craft when meeting potential investors.

Practice means you’re prepared to pitch

When you watch the Shark Tank show, it’s hard not to cringe every time you see budding entrepreneurs conduct the same fatal mistakes again and again during their startup pitch presentation. If they are unprepared, if they lack a solid business plan that includes the return on investment, and if they haven’t conducted research on the industry their business would be tapping into, they look sloppy. Why would an investor want to take that risk?

One of the best pieces of advice I’ve heard on the show is practicing your pitch before you do your presentation. If you aren’t prepared to be hounded with questions on your branding, business model, a business marketing plan, and how you will generate a profit, then you will sink to the bottom of the startup pool.

You will have an hour or so to convince this potential investor that your startup idea will make them their money back, so why waste their time with a lack of planning? With that in mind, there are several glaring mistakes new entrepreneurs make that can be avoided.

ThinkDesign podcast discusses the 7 deadly mistakes entrepreneurs should avoid when pitching their startup to investors.

Kathleen is a New Jersey blogger with an interest in brand design and a passion for graphic design, illustration, and social media. She loves to deliver inspiration to others to give them the means to achieve their branding and design goals.
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